>Below are some starting places. What I could not find is how
much, if any state/local gas tax is spent on portland streets vs.
property taxes (which we all pay). Most of those gas taxes are going
to highways not local streets that most cyclists use.

two responses to the portland tribune
letter-to-the-editor containing a motorist's death threat to CM
riders:

From: randy albright

Sent: Saturday, November 16,
2002

To: Portland
CM List

Subject: Critical Mass = Bicyclists' Civil Rights
Movement

This is my epiphany and my vision.

Critical Mass is at the vanguard of the bicyclists' civil
rights movement.

The rides will continue to grow, and participants will
expand their activities to include other types of direct action and
culture jams, including ticketing of SUVs; blocking arterial
entrances to downtown on self-proclaimed car-free Fridays, in the
absence of an official City designation of car-free days downtown;
performing Do-It-Yourself bicycle safety improvements including
painting bicycle stencils on the pavement at key hazard points for
bicyclists; and other direct actions yet to be imagined. In the
spirit of civil disobedience and rider safety, 'corking' on CM rides
will continue.

My position results from ten years of participation on the
City of Portland's Bicycle Advisory Committee, during which time I
have had to sit and listen to a steady stream of cars-first,
bikes-last apologists, including politicians, bureaucrats, planners,
engineers and others, explain why bicycles will be left out of, or
cannot be safely accommodated on, this or that road or transportation
project. Urban bicyclists should not be settling for the so-called
'bicycle-friendly' projects the City managed to build when they had
adequate funding, which in most cases consist of marginally safe bike
lanes located only where it is convenient and non-controversial, and
a handful of separated recreational paths that provide limited access
to real-life destinations. Now, according to the recent Oregon
Appeals Court ruling posted here, bicyclists will be forced to ride
in these unsafe substandard bike lanes or face further police
enforcement.

As a participant in the past several month's Critical Mass
rides, I have observed first-hand the police brutality against CM
riders and the police bias towards bicyclists in general; the mayor's
unreasonable and uncompromisingly uncooperative attitude toward
bicyclists in general and CM in particular; I have experienced
first-hand for most of my life the rude and dangerous motorist
behavior that all urban cyclists have to put up with on a daily
basis; the repeated failure of our transportation bureaucracies and
other public agencies to adequately accommodate bicyclists safely on
our public streets in their planning, development and enforcement
activities; the infighting among CM participants regarding the issue
of 'corking'; the hateful letters from motorists directed towards
bicyclists that the local papers feel so free to publish; and now,
finally, the publication of overt death threats in a local paper
directed towards bicyclists in general and one individual in
particular who did nothing more than openly express a pro-bicycle,
pro-CM viewpoint.

I predict that Critical Mass will continue to grow as long
as urban bicyclists are routinely endangered by 'normal' motorist
behavior; as long as larger and more dangerous motor vehicles fall
into the hands of poorly trained motorists with bad attitude and open
hostility towards other road users; and as long as the double
standard continues to exist which allows motorists and the police to
insist that bicyclists obey all existing traffic rules while
motorists are universally free to speed, run red lights, and
otherwise endanger bicyclists, pedestrians and other users of public
streets.

To quote Chainguard On-Line: "Cyclists should expect and
demand safe accommodation on every public road, just as do all other
users. Nothing more, is expected. Nothing less is acceptable."

Se y'all on November 29.

Peace.

-Randy

From: randy albright

Sent: Wednesday,
January 08, 2003 11:57 PM

To: quarkgg@earthlink.net

Cc: Portland CM List

Subject: Tribune CM Death Threat Letter
Revisited

Gerry:

I too interpreted the text of your letter to constitute a death
threat directed towards Alex and other Critical Mass participants. In
case you have forgotten, in your letter you stated, and I quote:

"If Critical Mass Riders continue to engage in stupid and unsafe
behavior, it is quite likely that riders, such as Mr. Harvill will
find themselves pinned beneath an axle with a body crushed to a
pulp."

Nothing in your explanation below, least of all your invoking of
your 'first amendment rights to free speech', gives you the right to
engage in this form of passive-aggressive hate speech. In your
letter, you directly threaten all Critical Mass participants, and
Alex in particular, with death by deadly force caused by vehicular
homicide. I am reasonably certain that neither the Tribune nor any
other newspaper would ever publish a similar letter written by a
white racist threatening death by any means to people of color.

Perhaps if you had a better understanding of the fact that
law-abiding bicyclists are endangered and threatened on public
streets in Portland every day by rude and inconsiderate
motorists--motorists who feel free to themselves speed, run red
lights and commit other violations of the law on a routine
basis--then you would also understand that Critical Mass is the
natural response of bicyclists seeking safety in numbers, demanding
respect, and refusing to be treated like second-class users of our
public streets or submit to a double-standard of obedience to the law
for motorists and bicyclists.

Critical Mass rides are supposed to be celebratory and fun, not
warfare in the streets between relatively harmless bicyclists and
police equipped with riot gear acting on direct orders from the
Mayor's office. Cars travel in large groups every day. It's called
'traffic'. When was the last time you saw or heard of a motorist
being beaten, pepper-sprayed, handcuffed and arrested simply for a
minor traffic infraction???

The only violence I have ever observed on a Critical Mass ride was
instigated either by the police or a motorist, but Critical Mass will
never get a column-inch of favorable coverage in the car-, truck- and
SUV-sponsored local media. In view of the unprofessional and violent
behavior the police have exhibited towards Critical Mass, and the
biased media coverage, I personally have begun to view Critical Mass
as the civil rights movement for bicyclists, where for a brief two or
three hours a month dedicated bicyclists engage in non-violent civil
disobedience in support of their right to use and be safe on our
public streets.

Letters like yours encouraging further violent behavior towards
bicyclists by motorists not only have racist overtones, they also
have an overall negative effect on enhancing cooperation and mutual
respect between motorists and bicyclists using our streets on a daily
basis. You should have thought long and hard about this before
mailing your letter to the Tribune, and relegated it to the recycling
bin instead.

Contrary to your lame excuses to Alex for what you wrote, and your
demands for an apology, I believe that it is really the other way
'round, and it is actually you who owes an apology to Alex and other
Critical Mass participants, and to bicyclists in general.

Sincerely,

Randy Albright

[ok, this isn't randy, but it's on topic:]

From: Jym Dyer

Sent:
January 09,
2003

To:
quarkgg@earthlink.net

Subject: Tribune CM Death Threat
Letter Revisited

"If Critical Mass Riders continue to engage in stupid and unsafe
behavior, it is quite likely that riders, such as Mr. Harvill will
find themselves pinned beneath an axle | with a body crushed to a
pulp."

=v= This should be put into historical context. This sort of
passive-voice threat has made its way into newspapers before. Perhaps
this all-purpose multiple-choice version of the above will be
illuminating:

If ______________________________

(a) Queer Nation activists

(b) Women's Libbers

(c) Civil Rights marchers

continue to engage in ______________________________ behavior,

(a) uncloseted

(b) unwomanly

(c) uppity

it is quite likely that ______________________________

(a) homosexuals

(b) feminists

(c) Negroes

such as ______________________________

(a) Matthew Shepherd

(b) the ones at Ecole Polytchnique

(c) M.L. King

will find themselves ______________________________.

(a) beaten to death

(b) gunned down

(c) lynched

=v= I don't mind free speech. I like to see those who make such
threats out in the open, with their hateful ideas preserved for
posterity. An even greater historical lesson, though, and one we can
certainly hope for in this case, is that of redemption.

<_Jym_>

on meeting with city officials:

From: randy
albright

Sent:
Monday,
November 25, 2002

To: Portland CM List

Subject: November 22 meeting with
City

Here's my take on what was and wasn't said by the City at the
11/22 meeting.

What was said: The City failed to be persuaded by arguments that
CM occurs

for only two or three hours a month, that CM occurs after the peak
evening

rush hour, that corking helps keep the riders safe and clear any
given area

quicker, etc. Perhaps we will see more bike cops on the east side
this

month instead of the cruisers and motorcycles that typically take
over after

the river crossing. It was unclear to me what, if any,
additional

enforcement the police would perform against CM participants that
don't

follow the permitted route.

In the process of denying that such a situation exists, the City
made it

pretty clear that a double standard is in effect for cars and
bikes, and

that City streets are managed first to facilitate motor vehicle
access and

convenience, and last for bicycle safety and accessibility.
Although the

City denied it, it is also pretty clear that it is unwritten City
policy

that bicyclists are supposed to meet the highest standards of
compliance

with traffic regulations (especially on a CM ride), while
motorists are free

to cause gridlock, speed and run lights with impunity. Although
the City is

days grow longer and
the pavement drier, the Agros turn out, and the cops

soon follow. Perhaps
the "wuss ride" needs to be dusted off again, it really

is fun. The wuss ride
gets to do exactly what it likes because the riders

cooperate with one
another AND any police will probably be fucking with the

Agro ride.

3) Ultimately, any
definition of what Critical Mass should be is flawed. We

must simply respect
ALL CMassers regardless of their seniority, and

undermine car culture
in whatever way we can. If this means riding headlong

into traffic, so be
it. Handing out cookies to corked drivers, so be it.

Shouting matches with
police in the street or polite negotiation in the

"Justice" Center. I
will accept no criticism for sweet talking the police,

nor will I accept
criticism from the police for inciting a bike mob dressed

as Ronald McDonald. I
determine the best tactic for myself on a minute by

minute basis, and do
not expect anyone else to follow. My ride is what I

make it.

4) That said, I think
the police are going to freak out over BikeSummer. The

Wussers (myself
likely included) should revive the grand old tradition in

front of Powell's
Tech store and go on the offensive with the media

portraying ourselves
as fine upstanding citizens. This will make the police

look like fools (not
hard) and confuse the driving public (also not hard). I

promise to Wuss on
the next ride if there are any other takers, perhaps we

should dress like
Mormons.

alex

PERMITS?

The police have been furiously lobbying for
two utterly counterproductive concessions: no corking and a parade
permit. after much maneuvering, just before the november ride they
found a brand new masser (one ride under his belt - on which he was
injured by a car) fool enough to apply for a permit. then convened a
hasty and confusing meeting between city officials and whatever
massers they could round up, and produced the most rashomon ride
ever. i mean, all critical mass rides are like the blind man and the
elephant, but this one took the cake. below is one warning post from
a friendly wisconsin rider, followed by 5 ride reports.

From:
Matt Logan

Sent:
Friday,
November 22, 2002

To:
cm@pdxbikes.org

Subject: Re:
Critical Mass/accident stats

> I realize that the Portland police are
eager to see a version of

> Critical Mass that has no impact on the
city, and that a participant

> has come forward that appears willing
to join with you in this

> effort. I am sure you are savvy enough
to realize that this has

> very little chance of succeeding (owing
to the very nature of the

> Critical Mass phenomena).

> I participate in Critical Mass in
Madison Wisconsin, and last April

> when a cyclist went to the effort of
obtaining a permit and planning

> to a pre planned route, would the
Police then take action during the

> next rush hour to punish Portland
Motorists for breaking my

> agreement? After all, motorists who are
impeding the normal (i.e..

> at speed limit) flow of traffic are
breaking the law. I doubt it.

> And this I think reveals the true
nature of your relationship with

> Critical Mass - you are undertaking
this course of action for purely

> political reasons. While there are a
plethora of life threatening

> acts of motorist lawbreaking going on
all around the city, the

> political problems brought about by
Critical Mass outweigh the

> public safety, thus justifying taking
resources away from normal

> traffic enforcement.

> I would suggest that instead of trying
to neuter Critical Mass by

> encouraging non representatives to make
agreements on behalf of

> people they do not represent, and then
having the Police enforce

> laws that have comparatively little
positive effect on public

> safety, that you instead work with the
city and riders to change the

> laws that make participating in a
"bicycle rush hour" any more

> against the law than participating in a
car rush hour. I would

> certainly appreciate any information
you might give me as to why

> this course of action is not
possible.

alex:

There must have been
some weird vortex, because people either loved or hated

this ride. I loved
it, up to the point we were FORCED across Hawthorne

bridge. Starting out,
along the permitted route, I had concerns. I knew,

though, that the
awesome power of Critical Mass would prevail and the route

would be lost
quickly. After the mass ignored the third turn in the

designated route and
continued South on 3rd, the police had no idea what to

do. I had
reservations about "Jim" having applied for a permit, as I
thought

the police and City
Hall would use the excuse that by ignoring it, we'd

invite a draconian
response. The police, though, were thrown a curve and

missed badly. They
were on the defensive from the outset and continued to

lose ground. This
ride is evidence enough that Critical Mass cannot be

broken.

After the lap around
PCS, when the police made the roadblock and were met

with a beautiful bike
lift, hundreds of holiday shoppers saw that the police

were completely out
of control. I didn't hear any mention from the peds

about "those damn
trouble making cyclists." The bystanders understood all

too well that the
police were saying, "stop mocking our authority or risk

injury." When the
police break out the riot gear to respond to a bunch of

cyclists, they
lose.

In addition, the
ambulance on Burnside put the lie to the accusation that
CM

blocks emergency
vehicles. Since the uphill side of Burnside was blocked

with cars (through no
fault of ours by the way) the mass quickly opened a

lane for the
ambulance to use. Ironically, the ambulance was blocked by
a

dangerously oblivious
SUV driver after passing the mass.

Who has photos of the
bike lift?

ayleen:

So, for a while we
were afraid of the bridges because they would come after us. Then we
used to cross the bridges a bit hesitantly for fear the East Precinct
would be waiting for us on the other side.

Then last night they
FORCED us over the bridge.

Strange.

The riot gear, what
was with that? Did they put that on just for show in front of the
shoppers/peds? Because when they did that, they really did put on a
show. It was incredibly ridiculous looking. They looked SO harsh. I
was a ped at this point as I snapped some shots (missed the bike lift
unfortunately). I had the wonderful opportunity to dialogue with the
peds (my bike helmet gave me away as someone who probably knew what
was going on). I was eager to spread the love of bikes to these
folks. Most of them reacted like, "The police are doing all of this
for BIKES?!". Another biker acting as a ped kept broadcasting "Your
taxpayer dollars at work". Only one shopper/ped was negative toward
the situation (that I noticed) and he said, "And it's all because of
YOOOOU." in a negative, acusing tone. But yes, as Alex noted, the
shoppers/peds were supportive.

What a sight. Our
vehicles are harmless enough to be lifted over our heads yet they
come after us with riot gear.

I didn't quite GET
the gear though. They just stood behind us. As if we would have gone
back down the wrong way on the one-way to face them? Surely they know
CM better than that. WE (as a whole) don't go the wrong way on a
one-way (though a few idiots/energetic riders try it here and
there).

I very much enjoyed
last night's ride.

fred:

it was a surreal
ride, with an extreme disjunction between what the police flyer
dictated and what the ride actually did. the police promised that a
motorcyclist would lead the ride, but there was never any sign of one
(kudos to somebody for countermanding that witless idea). they
adamantly forbade corking, but refrained from ticketing any corkers
(though some confused officers still ticketed red-light running,
simultaneous with other officers shepherding the ride through other
reds). perhaps a mere 50 officers was insufficient to do more than
defuse all the situations where angry/confused shopper-drivers got
caught in the mass due to insufficient corking. the cycle officers
were apparently forbidden to cork, though many of them seemed to want
to. either the police would completely disappear for a while (to
re-group?) or motorcycle officers were playing leapfrog (doing 25 mph
on the downtown sidewalks!) trying to at least take over corking
towards the front of the ride. they didn't even try towards the rear,
where it would probably have been more effective.

it's mostly wishful
thinking, but my impression from the ride and from sara's description
of the pre-ride conference with city attorney/mayor's office/police
brass, is that the city is inexorably learning that cycle officers
can best police the ride (the one cycle officer at the meeting
defended corking).

i saw several
serene-faced officers, and observed a noticeably increased air of
courtesy and mutual respect between police and massers. what better
evidence that we've once again achieved critical mass?

(i've been trying to
get a count of our numbers on the last few rides. for the record, my
count was 550 riders in august, 1022 in september, over 1100 in
october, and 190 last night)

sara:

I stopped while cops
wrote a ticket to a guy for going through a red light - early in the
ride. The cyclist was super-pissed because everyone around him went
through the light too. He didn't have an i.d. and the police were
warning him that if he gave false info he'd be in big trouble. The
cops persisted in talking mean and the cyclist persisted in talking
back. He was also issued a citation for not having a light and warned
that he should always carry i.d. while riding. When the cops were
done I offered the guy one of my alien lights to put on his bike, but
he refused the offer - pointing out that he had a head-light dangling
around his neck. I went to put the alien on my own rig, and when I
turned around he was gone. I went in search of the ride and was about
to give up and go for a piece of escape from NY pizza when a throng
of motor-cycle cops charged past. I followed them, and sure enuf - we
were re-united.

According to the TV
news lady - Critical Mass went too many times around the square and
police had to take action. She said we "spoiled the party" and dubbed
us "the bad cousin" who just can't behave when the family gets
together in our City's living room. 12 citations and one arrest for
riding under the influence of alcohol and disorderly conduct were
reported.

patrick:

I a lot of riders
were confused about the start of the ride. Some of the

riders I talked to
that rode the unpermitted ride THOUGHT they were on the

permitted ride and
were surprised with a ticket. The permitted ride started

with 11 riders, half
of which were intending on going on the un-permitted

ride. As the ride
progressed we swelled to a maximum of 18 riders. We had

6-8 police
motorcycles clearing our route up to three blocks ahead

(literally chasing
the cars and frightening the peds away) and corking.

Because of our small
size and escort it was one of the fastest CM rides

I've ever gone on. It
felt like we were riding with the president.

Bystanders looked at
us passing with their mouths agape not knowing if we

were being captured
by the police (except we were waving, honking our

horns, goofing and
weaving) or WHAT IN THE WORLD MADE US SO SPECIAL

to get such an
escort. One rider rode a wheelie most of the way up Broadway.

I planned to go on
the permitted ride and I was not expecting to enjoy the

ride so much, but the
irony of being treated as VIPs made this ride one of

my most memorable.
After going around downtown and NW we encountered 2

other large CM rides,
one at Powells and the other on Burnside and 5th,

where we lost all but
myself and one rider. Us two were going to continue

to finish the ride
with our 6-8 motorcycle cops but at Burnside and second

they abandoned
us--without even saying goodbye! We acquired about 6 more

lost CMers and rode
about downtown for a bit looking for the mass. We asked

for directions at a
car accident in NW but the (friendly) cop was on

another radio net and
couldn't direct us to CM. We gave up and pedaled to

Disjecta Gallery but
was early and then went to my party in NE.

Wheelmen
Attack!

Portland Tribune
January 03, 2003 letter to the editor:

Many
avid cyclists respect traffic laws

The Portland Wheelmen
Touring Club sponsors rides 365 days a year as part of Portland's
transportation picture. We do not intentionally block roads,
purposefully provoke motorists or have melees with our police
departments. Our members use their bikes for pleasure, exercise and
commuting. And, like most cyclists, we are responsible, law-abiding
users of our area's roadways.

The recent Critical
Mass rides in no way represent the beliefs or purposes of our
organization. It hurts the cause of cycling to have the public link
bicyclists with conflicts with the police. Having motorists look at a
group of cyclists as an enemy will not increase our safety or
bicycling privileges.

We believe in the
right of a free people to protest government policies. This should
not be an excuse for lawlessness. The mass that is truly critical is
the mass of people needed to rediscover the bicycle as the most
efficient form of individual transportation.

Ron Ing

Portland Wheelmen
Touring Club Portland

From:
Fred Nemo

Sent:
January 04, 2003

To: pdx CM

Subject: Wheelmen

there are wheelmen
that are regular and loyal critical mass riders of long standing, so
ron ing not only does not represent critical mass, he also doesn't
represent the wheelmen. also, sara just went on their annual new
year's ride and reports that there was extensive mass blowing through
red lights, among other crimes, so it seems mr. ing is just
misrepresenting all over the place...

From: Kevin
McConkey

Sent: January 06,
2003

To: Fred Nemo

Hi Fred,

My name is Kevin
McConkey, I am the new Vice-President of the Portland Wheelmen. In
your e-mail you state that Ron Ing "is just misrepresenting all over
the place"... You're not being very fair to Ron considering you're
doing the very same thing. Ron never claimed to represent critical
mass. Ron, PWTC President at the time, did represent the views of the
Wheelmen. The letter he wrote was presented to the Board and
approved, then presented to the general membership at a meeting and
approved. If you are a member and don't attend meetings to make your
views and feelings known you can't very well state that the President
isn't representing you. I also was on the New Years day ride and can
honestly say I saw no one run a red light. We as a group rolled
through many stop signs, and anyone paying attention noticed the
cross traffic at those intersections waved us through. I'm not saying
we don't break any traffic laws, we do, all too often. What Ron was
trying to say is we don't break laws just to piss people off. As a
board member I welcome you to any club meeting, please come and share
your views. If we are misrepresenting you or any other member please
come and make your feelings known

From: Fred
Nemo

Sent: January
05, 2003

To:
Kevin McConkey

hi,

thanks for your
considered response. i think the crux of these disagreements lies in
the perception of one individual representing the views of everyone
in their organization. it is an outrage (though understandable coming
from people whose only source of information about critical mass is
apparently channel 12) that you should characterize wheelmen's
lawbreaking as a matter of courtesy yet characterize CM's lawbreaking
as intended to piss off motorists. the only rides that have featured
the aggro hooliganism that you so cherish imagining as typical of
critical mass rides have occurred in the immediate wake of outrageous
police misconduct, and have been perpetrated by 4 or 5 self-styled
"anarchists" (out of 500-1000 riders) who soon disappear. if the
police appeared at wheelmen rides and violently arrested those of you
who are waved through stop-signs by benevolent motorists, you would
more quickly take my point.

fred nemo

From: Fred
Nemo

Sent: January
05

To: Kevin
McConkey

dear
kevin,

this may be more than
you want to know. you may be interested in a couple of precedents:
early on, the BTA took a very dim view of critical mass, going so far
as to schedule a simultaneous "visibility ride" to show how it is
properly done. finally, someone managed to get karen frost-mecey, the
then BTA president, to come on a CM ride. she was given a ticket in
her first 5 minutes on the ride and the BTA has been a staunch ally
ever since. Charlie Hales, as outlined below, had a similar
conversion experience. Finally, at our last confab with the police
bureau and the mayor's office (in october), the most vocal advocate
for allowing the mass to "cork" was the one bike cop in attendance.
if you are interested enough to study the issue, i think you'll find
that the crackdowns on and disinformation about our rides have more
to do with the chief's and the mayor's political agendas than law
enforcement.

I found all this very
interesting, I did'nt realize that the police had harrassed you so
much in the past. I'm sorry that there are people riding in CM now
that give the rest of you a bad name. It also does'nt help that
they've attracted the police back to your rides in such a negetive
way. I hope in the future we can all work together for cyclists
rights. We have enough opposition as it is we don't need to be
fighting each other. Kevin